Election season is upon us once again here in Canada. It was announced just today. Although, the circumstances for this election are a bit different than the ones I posted about in the past because this time around the sitting Prime Minister felt the need to resign.
*Justin Trudeau in the act of resigning*
He clung to power as long he could but, as of last February, could not hold on any longer. So he will NOT be in this leadership race this time around. There are a whole new batch of candidates to choose from, some new and some all too familiar. Here they are:
Mark Carney
Pierre Poilievre
Jagmeet Singh
Yves Francois Blanchet
Elizabeth May
...and bringing up the rear:
Maxime Bernier
The election day happens on April 28. May the lesser evil candidate win.
Well, it's election time again in Canada. Our incumbent PM dropped the writ just this morning. On the fast approaching date of September 20, all eligible Canadians will make the decision to either go out to the polls and vote for any 1 of the 6 candidates competing for our affection.................... or not. In a true and full democracy, abstaining from voting is a perfectly fine option. No candidate is automatically owed your vote just because they exist. That candidate still has to work hard enough to earn your vote. That being said, below are the list of candidates hoping to be (or continue to be) the leader of a country adjacent to the "free world":
Incumbent: Justin Trudeau
Jagmeet Singh
Erin O'Toole
Yves-Francois Blanchet
Anomie Paul
Maxime Bernier
These are your choices, Canada. Choose wisely. We'll have to put up with one of these people for the next two years or so (or whenever the rest of parliament can organize a non-confidence vote).
Well, it's election time in Canada again. Over the years of writing this little blog of mine I've taken it upon myself to present all of the candidates competing for the job and title of Prime Minister. This year's election promises to be a nail biter between two heavy favourites. Who will emerge triumphant? That remains to be seen. For now, I present all the candidates up for the job starting with the incumbent:
Justin Trudeau
Yeah, I went there.
Other major players trying to take his job are:
Andrew Scheer
Jagmeet Singh
Elizabeth May
Maxime Bernier
I can't and won't tell you who to vote for. What I can do is provide a link right here for any Canadian citizen that will help them find out what riding they're in and thus where their voting station is: Elections Canada
Back in December of 2016, I got married to a wonderful Filipina named Janet and in the process adopted her equally wonderful daughter Raianne. I blogged about it at the time here. However, that ceremony took place in the Philippines because she's a Philippines citizen. So after that wedding, I had to leave her behind and fly back to Canada to simply carry on with my life. She and Raianne had to do the same thing with their lives as well. Long distance relationships never feel good. Sending and receiving messages to each other online is certainly fun and lifts the spirits, but there's still an emptiness felt throughout simply because this person is so far away. But, in that time since then, we all completed the necessary paperwork for my wife and daughter to achieve permission to immigrate to Canada to be with me. This passed January, they were both accepted!!! They were both sad to leave friends and family behind, but at the same time they were also excited to meet the new family and friends that awaited them in Canada. April 8, one both ago today, was the big day when they finally made the journey. My wife documented their trip in this video:
Lots has happened in the first month since they've arrived. Yes, they've both applied for things that every Canadian citizen needs like SIN numbers and health cards. Our daughter has also been enrolled in school and is already doing quite well.
Here she is getting a guided tour of the school by some of her new friends.
But it's not just been laboriously filling out forms or listening to stuffy seminars about citizenship. We've managed to have some fun too. We went to the Saskatchewan Natural History Museum where Raianne got to look at some real dinosaur bones.
I know that she's interested in science, especially dinosaurs, so I knew this would be a big treat for her. With that in mind, we also went to the Science Centre. Raianne enjoyed herself there too. We watched an IMAX movie about rescue dogs that was quite enjoyable and informative. However, there was one attraction there that I had particular interest in. There's something at the Science Centre called a 'zoetrope'. For those who don't know, that's the device that was used to view animated drawing and/or photographs before film was invented. Patrons can make their own animations on a slip of paper, put it into the device, then give it a spin and watch it move. I tried creating what's known in animation circles as a 'walk cycle'. I brought it home, scanned it into my computer ad put those pictures into Flash so that I could show you fine people on the vast internet my meagre accomplishment. Here it is embedded below:
On April 28, there was a freak spring snow storm that made it look and feel like winter for just that one day. Most people from hot climates like the Philippines tend not function well right away in snowy conditions. They either try to stay inside as much as possible, or they just shiver profusely no matter how many layers of jackets and sweaters they're wearing. Raianne however took to it naturally. She sang Elsa's "Let It Go" song the entire time and could've frolicked in that snow all day. I showed her how to make a snow angel and she did that many times. Also, at one point she taught herself how to make snow balls and throw them. One of those snow balls hit me right in the face. She said "sorry, daddy" but I wasn't mad at all. If anything I was proud. In just a short time, she taught herself to throw snowballs at people's faces like a Canadian pro. That's impressive. The next snow fall won't be for several months, but I'm sure she will not have forgotten her newfound skills by then. So look out anyone who's within throwing distance of my daughter next winter. Your face might be getting cold and wet very quickly.
Oh yes, Raianne is having fun with her new family members as well as you can see.
It's not just the cousins close to her own age she's having fun with. She enjoys spending time with her new grandmother too. While we were playing cribbage together, Raianne drew this picture of grandma (who insists on being called 'babchi').
She loves to draw and draws often. It shouldn't be hard to steer her in an artistic direction. "Yes, we know your daughter is having fun. But what about you and your wife??"
'What are I and my wife doing for fun since her arrival into Canada' you ask oh hypothetical person that I've concocted just for this blogpost. Well, I won't post any grizzly details. I'll just leave this here.
Skyrockets in flight indeed.
So anyway, that's been their first month in Canada. I know there will be many many more great months and years to come. I'll end this post with another of my wife's videos showing her and our daughter having fun in Rochdale Park. Enjoy!
Humphrey Bogart has a message for all Canadians in the video embedded below:
You heard what Mr. Lauren Bacall said. If you're a proud Canadian, or are very good friends with a proud Canadian, you can show how happy you are by taking off your clothes and then joining into the festivities.
"We're ready, baby! Yeeeeeeeeeeah!!
Happy 150th Canada!!! Party safe and party naked!!!
The writ has been dropped as it's been said. "What's a writ and who dropped it," you ask. I don't know and I don't care. All I know is that there will be another federal election here in Canada to decide who will be our next Prime Minister. This year it comes down to any one of these 5 choices:
Stephen Harper
Justin Trudeau
Tom Mulcair
Elizabeth May
Gilles Duceppe
Any one of these people could run away with this election on voting day October 19. I guess that depends on how well each candidate does in each debate.
Here's an early speculation on how the first debate will be.
The most of the poll numbers are very close so it's anybody's guess who the victor will be. I personally would prefer to vote for this rather obviously butch lumberjack pictured below. I hope he has no surprises for me.
WHAT??!! That's Engelbert Humperdink. Are you some kind of moron???
No, the Iggy I met today was none other than the leader of the Liberal Party of Canada, namely Michael Ignatief.
For those in this world who don't know (or care), Canada is in the middle of an election campaign right now. Prime Minister Stephen Harper was held in contempt of Parliament and so now in about exactly a month's time, Canada will be going to the polls. Many Canadians don't forsee any surprises with the voting results, but you can't always tell at this point in the game. Anything could happen.
Anyway, I was in attendance at the Liberal rally at the Westin Hotel in Halifax today. It was a pretty good turnout. They had to utilize an overflow banquet room in order to accommodate all the people that showed up. Iggy did indeed please the crowd that was there. He held up a red book full of campaign promises (look familiar, Canada?) and made a speech full of positive reinforcement for the party and loads of seemingly well-supported Harper bashing. Luckily, I'm all for Harper-bashing so I was happy with that.
After the speech was done, his theme song played and he made his way out of the banquet room where people were lined up on either side of him ready to shake his hand and tell him how great he is. I was among those people in that line. But, what I did was give him a copy of my book Jesus Needs Help. He didn't seem so enthusiastic about it when he saw it, but his wife assured me that she will make sure he reads it. Immediately afterwards, the book was given to Iggy's aid in charge of schleping around all the gifts he gets. That aid asked me if I had a card with any other contact information on it. I did, so I gave him that too. So, a long story short, a candidate for Prime Minister has a copy of my book. If he does happen to become Prime Minister on May 2 (the day the polls open), then it will be Canada's Prime Minister who will have a copy of my book. Hooray!
But, Iggy's campaign does seem to be in trouble. I could tell when he first looked at my book. He read the title "Jesus Needs Help" and then he hung his head and said in a low forlorn voice, "I need help". Hmmmmmmmmmm! That's not nearly as confident as he sounded when he made that fired up speech just moments before. He seems to feel that things look really good for Harper and not nearly good enough for him at this point. But, like I said before, anything could happen. So, unless you feel Harper is doing a good job, (in which case I'd tell you that there is a time machine leaving for 1214 A.D. that glorious year just before the Magna Carta was signed. I think you'll be much happier there.) I think it would do Iggy a world of good if you voted for him or at least came out to any other of his rallies on the campaign trail and showed him some support. That might put a little more spring in his step. Just looking out for you buddy.
But, I should probably end this tale on a happy note. So, right below is another Iggy for you to enjoy.
Oh, but before I go, I have some other news I feel I should post here. That book of mine that I previously mentioned (namely Jesus Needs Help. Does everyone know the title of my book yet?) is now for sale in Berlin Germany. Oh, you don't believe me??!! Well, here's a photograph:
There it is, right near a Sarah Palin comic of all things. If you're in the Berlin area right now, the address of this comic book shop is Grober Unfug, Berlin, Mitte Torstr 75. Buy your copy before the "other guys" get it.
